


love letters

by mireailles



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Canon Compliant, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-16 06:06:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29202564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mireailles/pseuds/mireailles
Summary: Pre-time skip. Mikasa deals with mysterious letters addressed to her.
Kudos: 4





	love letters

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place after Levi Squad makes it to the ocean but before the time skip. There's quite a few things referenced to the **manga** that hasn't happened in the anime yet so there's **spoilers** if you're not quite caught up. Lots of EMA, JSC headcanons, speculations on what they were up to before the time skip.

The first letter comes after their first meeting with Yelena.  
  
After Shinganshina is retaken from the Titans and people start to rebuild their lives there. It seemed natural to start back there too, look for a place to live, salvage whatever's left of their houses but Eren and Armin had both agreed--there's nothing left for them in Shinganshina. With Hannes the only surviving familiar face long dead and gone. So, Armin suggests they situate themselves closer to the capital, where Hange and Levi have both set up base for the Scouts.  
  
He finds an apartment and together they pool their money and resources to buy it. It's not really that hard considering the raise and medals awarded to them. Jean, Connie and Sasha manage to do the same, with both Connie and Sasha pulling Jean into an apartment a stone's throw away from theirs.  
  
Mail isn't something any of them worry about, the landlord asks for rent in person. Sometimes Hange mails Armin documents which he pores over on the desk in his room. Armin comes in with the mail one morning, two envelopes: one addressed to him in Hange's handwriting and another smaller envelope. He puts the smaller one on the table.  
  
"It's for you, Mikasa," he says.  
  
Mikasa raises an eyebrow, drops her spoon in her bowl and takes up the letter in her hand. She flips it, in neat printed letters is her name and address.  
  
"Here," Armin says, offering her the letter opener.  
  
Mikasa slides the blade through the envelope as Armin takes a seat. Eren's leaning over his bowl, eating like nothing's happened, eyes glazed over. She pulls out a piece of paper.  
  
_Mikasa,  
  
I am always watching you.  
  
I've always admired you since that fateful day we met.  
  
Your secret admirer.  
  
_Armin's sitting down on the kitchen table, one hand flattening the letter on the table, the other trying to keep a magnifying glass steady. Mikasa hovering over him, Eren's shut himself in his room. Armin lowers the magnifying glass, sighing.  
  
"Well?" she says.  
  
"I really don't know," Armin says. "It could be anyone really."  
  
"Should I be worried?" she says, hand unconsciously squeezing Armin's shoulder.  
  
"I don't know," he repeats. "Do you want to go to the police?"  
  
She purses her lips. The sound of a door opening, Eren walks up to them, leaning over Armin's shoulder and tilting his head. "It's nothing," he says. "Don't go to the police with that, it's probably someone random."  
  
The matter is settled with Eren's words but it doesn't stop the letters.  
  
It comes once a month, words expressing admiration, her bravery and strength. She collects them all in a small box--just in case Armin tells her the first time when she's about toss out the first one. It becomes a normal part of their routine, letters addressed to her and ones addressed to Armin with Hange's handwriting and one Mikasa doesn't recognize. It has the official Military Police seal on it and Mikasa raises her eyebrows when she drops it on the table. Armin sheepishly collects it up, saying it's a correspondence with a friend he's met somewhere. Mikasa takes her seat at the table, the matter forgotten.  
  
Eren lowers his spoon, swallowing. He narrows his eyes at Armin, expression darkening and then, like a passing storm, he goes back to staring blankly at his food.  
  
Armin knocks on her door and she opens it to the sight of him with a pair of scissors. "It's gotten unmanageable," he says absently.  
  
It has, the two of them sporting twin ponytails, both overtaking Eren's hair. She pulls up the kitchen chair, and Armin sits down on it. Then she pulls up the cloth from the table. Starts cutting and handing Armin the mirror every once in a while until most of his blond locks are cut almost as short as Erwin's once was.  
  
"There," she says with finality.  
  
She pulls the cloth away and dusts it off, Armin passes a hand through his hair.  
  
"Thanks," he says softly.  
  
"No problem."  
  
With everything that's going on, they're at home less and less.  
  
Practicing with the new 3DMG gear, navigating the new world they've found themselves in. There are meetings, discussions, sometimes special events where they're required to wear their trenchcoats. And all through it, Eren becomes more sullen, more quiet. As if he's sinking deeper into his own mind. He has harsh words and criticisms for any suggestion, goes quiet with a faraway blank look when words do not suffice.  
  
They're on leave because of a training accident.  
  
She doesn't remember much about it, just her hair flying wildly, unsure where the ground is as all she can see is blue, blue sky. Something snaps and someone's screaming in the background. The physician attending to her tells her how lucky she is. Shakes his head when she asks what happened. She manages to get into the apartment leaning on both Armin and Eren for support. Lies down in her room while Armin helps her to and from the bathroom. Eren dresses her bandages once, looking dead. He pulls off the old bandages, staring hard at the wound. Then he unravels some gaze and starts to wrap it around her. She hisses, Eren continues dressing the wound like he doesn't hear her.  
  
When she's strong enough, she asks Armin to cut her hair. He obliges, pulling up the same kitchen chair, and putting the same cloth over her. Cuts it short enough that they're almost matching. The door opens, Eren takes off his shoes. He stares, narrowing his eyes as Armin's dusting off the cloth. Mikasa feels herself fidgeting under his stare. He blinks then shuffles off to his room.  
  
"I thought he would say something," Mikasa says.  
  
Armin has a hand on her shoulder. "Me too."  
  
When she's given the all clear from a physician in the capital, Armin comes up to her looking pale. He's staring down at a bunch of envelopes tied together with twine. He works his jaw before he speaks. "I didn't want you to worry, but these all came for you while you were recovering."  
  
Mikasa raises her eyebrow, taking the pile of envelopes from Armin. More letters from the same person, some stamped with the days where they're stationed in another base. More sweet words, a few have poems in them.  
  
"Do you want to go to the police?" Armin asks, leaning on the doorway. "I can pull some strings."  
  
Mikasa shakes her head. "It's alright, Armin. We'll be stationed in another base near the ocean, right? It'll be alright."  
  
"If you're sure," he says.  
  
  
About a week into their stay at the base, Shadis brings his new squad and starts to chew them out. Jean and Connie watch in bemusement as Sasha makes herself scarce. Eren, Mikasa and Armin are at the shooting range and by the time they arrive, Shadis is saying his goodbyes to Hange and tells Connie and Jean to stay sharp. A large group of kids in their early teens disappear with him as he herds them away.  
  
"You didn't miss much," Jean says, conversationally at dinner.  
  
"How's the new squad?" Armin asks.  
  
Jean purses his lips like he's thinking hard. "They're damn mouthy."  
  
"Brats," Connie chimes in. "All of 'em. There's no hope for 'em."  
  
"Oh," Armin says. "I suppose times have changed."  
  
With Shadis' exit comes more letters.  
  
Armin doesn't say anything when Hange drops the envelope for Mikasa but furrows his eyebrows in concern. Connie and Sasha are nudging each other like it's some inside joke. Mikasa tears open the letter when she's alone in the barracks, in it is a pressed flower and strange poem. She tucks it into her belongings. Over time the letters flood in, so much that Levi pulls her aside and drills into her about proper conduct as a soldier which she takes in stride.  
  
Armin has all the letters splayed out on a table.  
  
"You should get the police involved, this isn't normal," Jean says, chin cupped in his hand.  
  
"I know," Armin says, exasperated. "It's just--I never thought it'd escalate like this."  
  
Mikasa snatches up the letters. "I'll handle it," she says to Jean, eyes wide in shock.  
  
She drops them all on the floor of the barracks next to her bed. Dropping down, she starts to go through them again, sliding one towards her and shifting the others. The sun's fading when there's a knock on the door, Eren pokes his head in, one hand on the doorway.  
  
"Captain said to wash up for dinner," he says. He's half-turned when he pauses, looks back down at the letters. "You should report that to the police, that's damn disturbing."  
  
She collects up the letters and ties them together with twine, tucking them in a drawer.  
  
"So, you want to make a report, correct?" Armin asks.  
  
"Yes," she says.  
  
Armin reaches over placing a hand over hers. "It'll be okay, Mikasa. It happens unfortunately, we just need to get a handle on it, alright?" he says, gently.  
  
They take one of their off days to head to the Capital. Eren isn't with them, stalking off somewhere, so Armin makes the call to leave without him, for now. There are forms she signs and then they hand over the stack of envelopes.  
  
"You shouldn't worry," Armin says. "Nile is good, he--he has daughters so I think he would understand."  
  
Mikasa nods absently.  
  
The sky's fading to grey as the last of the red and orange of the sunset wane on the horizon. The sound of Sasha screeching makes them pause before they race over to a corner of one of the buildings. She's squeezing Connie's hands, eyes wild. Jean's leaning against a wall, wincing at the sound.  
  
"What happened?"  
  
Jean turns to Armin, shrugging. "Graduation day for Shadis' group is coming up, a ton of them went and pledged to sign up for the Survey Corps. We're gonna be getting a bunch of newbies, I guess."  
  
"That's not all," Sasha says, hands still firmly gripped on Connie's. "Hange is preparing a giant feast for them and Niccolo's offered to cater."  
  
The feast takes place in two weeks time and during that time the letters seem to wane, disappear almost completely. Hange decides to hold the celebrations in the base's canteen for the time being--the number of recruits apparently too large. Everyone's expected to be there, though Eren manages to make himself scarce for the preparations, both Armin and Mikasa vouch for him and promise he'll be there.  
  
Mikasa and Armin are smoothing out their trenchcoats on the bed, bolo ties close by when Hange pokes her head in and flashes two envelopes at Mikasa.  
  
"Sorry," she says. "In all the confusion, I forgot to give these to you."  
  
"That's all?" she says, taking them from Hange.  
  
"That's all, hopefully you'll get things sorted out," she says, looking down sympathetically.  
  
Armin doesn't say anything about the two letters as they're finishing up preparations but he whispers to her as he's leaving, "Keep that for the police," he says. "You don't have to open it if you don't want to."  
  
"Thanks Armin," she says.  
  
She ends up opening both before Sasha comes back from the showers.  
  
_Mikasa,  
  
From the first time I met you, I knew you were special.  
  
I knew you would save the world. You and Eren.  
  
I want you to know that I too have pledged my undying devotion to the cause.  
_  
_May we meet again soon,_  
  
_Your secret admirer_  
  
Smudged on the bottom right of the page is a fingerprint, red as a seal.   
_  
Mikasa,  
  
Ever since I saw you with your haircut, I thought maybe I should cut mine's too as a rite of passage for devoting myself to the cause.  
  
I hope it serves you well,  
  
Your secret admirer_  
  
Taped to the bottom of the note is a strand of hair, straight and blond. She drops both letters to the ground, hand shaking. She passes them to Armin with details of the contents of each letter. He puts them in a drawer next to his bed. Hange can't offer any days off because of the celebration.  
  
"After," Armin says. "And not a day later."  
  
They're making final preparations for the feast as the new recruits start to pour into the canteen. Mikasa's smoothing out her trenchcoat absently. Armin's mostly lingering between her and Jean, he's craning his neck trying to look for Eren, who hasn't come back from wherever he's disappeared to. She's about to take a look around for him when someone waves to her from the distance.  
  
Mikasa pauses as the girl puts down her hand and starts to walk up to her. She stops a good distance away from Mikasa. She has blond hair that touches the tips of her shoulders and clear blue eyes. Pausing, she puts her right hand to her chest, and her left twisting to her back, saluting Mikasa.   
  
Mikasa opens her mouth, the girl still maintaining the same salute Mikasa's given her years earlier in Trost. The girl ducks down as if bowing to her and that's when Mikasa notices an uneven piece of hair on her left side. She freezes, feels Armin come up beside her, gripping her arm as if he sees it too.  
  
There's a flood of new recruits coming in, all congregating towards one person in the middle of them. The girl turns around, her shoulders stiffen for a brief second, hands dropping to her side. She stares back at Mikasa as if conflicted then goes towards the crowd. The crowd seems to part for her and in the middle of it is Eren.  
  
Eren touches her shoulder. "Louise, it's good to see you again."  
  
Louise puts her hand on top of Eren's. "You too, sir."


End file.
